Monday, April 16, 2012

Sudden Fury

Lifetime's original movie "A Family Torn Apart" is based on actual events in Annapolis, Maryland, that shows two half-brothers, Daniel and Brian, who were adopted and being raised by two controlling parents, Joe and Maureen Hannigan, who wanted their boys to be perfect in everyway and suffered when they weren't. The abuse continued until the brutal murders of Joe and Maureen tragically occurred. With both brothers being suspected of the crime, first Daniel then Brian, the police investigate further and the truth of the physical and mental abuse comes out and opens the town's eyes of what life was really like in the Hannigan home which caused this family torn apart.

The story begins with Brian, holding his little brother, Chris, another boy adopted by Joe and Maureen. Brian called the police and let them know his parents were dead. The police arrive at their home. They find Joe dead in the basement. They keep searching until they find Maureen dead out in the backyard.  The police search around the house and find the ax, with blood all over it, in the woods near the home. At the police station, the detectives speak with Brian and Chris about what happened. Brian says that he doesn't know anything. Chris says that he heard noises and saw his brother, Daniel, walking outside. The police assume that Daniel is the culprit. They visit with Daniel, who is being held at a juvenile detention center, informing him of the death of his parents. Daniel knows that he is a suspect but he doesn't know who will be on his side and believe that he didn't do it.

A friend of the family, Tom Kelly, tries to help the boys deal with this tragedy. He speaks with Brian to find out the truth about what happened. Brian explains that Daniel was a handful for his parents. He explains that both of them were adopted. Brian was adopted first. Brian was liked by everyone which pleased his parents. Daniel was adopted next but he was much more different than Brian. Daniel was always giving his parents a problem about behaving the right way. His parents didn't know what else to do but to start beating Daniel until he does. Brian was always afraid to speak up and stop the abuse. He always behaved so he wouldn't get beaten. Unable to handle Daniel's behavior, Joe and Maureen decided to give him away. Thinking that they failed at parenting, Joe and Maureen start becoming more strict with Brian. They didn't let him date girls. They didn't let him hang out with his friends. After hearing Brian's stories of what they endured, Tom couldn't believe Joe and Maureen would treat their children this way but he believes Brian. Tom could only think the reason is Joe and Maureen had too much expectations on Brian and Daniel to be how they wanted them to be. They never thought there would be any pain and hardship that came with raising them. They wanted everything to be perfect with them. They didn't want to fail as parents. Realizing what he went through, Tom is starting to think that maybe Brian is responsible.

The police find blood matching Joe and Maureen on Brian's shoes and bring him in for questioning. Tom is there to support Brian. The police tell Brian it's time to tell the truth. Brian starts describing the details that happened that night. After getting caught with a girl, Brian overhears his parents talking about sending him away because they couldn't handle him. Not understanding why, Brian just couldn't take their abuse anymore. Afraid his parents were going to get rid of him like they did Daniel, Brian grabbed a knife. His parents were down in the basement. Brian walked downstairs and stood behind his mother, holding the knife, and had a look of such crazed anger. He was thinking why can't they take care of me? He was thinking what if they treat Chris the same way? He was thinking don't they love me? With such rage, Brian just started stabbing Maureen. Next, Brian walked up behind Joe and started stabbing him. With blood all over his face, Brian notices that his mother is still alive. She starts crawling towards the backyard so Brian grabs an ax and hits her over the head crushing her skull. Realizing what he's done, Brian walks through the woods and throws away the ax. After confessing, the police arrest Brian. After his trial, Brian served eight years in prison. Daniel continued to have trouble with the law and is currently in prison. Chris was adopted by a loving family.

Lizzy   =)

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